Salish Sea III - Friday Harbor

The San Juan Islands lie north of Puget Sound and west of Bellingham, WA. A non-aggressive border dispute between the U.S. and Great Britain called the "Pig War" was eventually settled in 1871 by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany (don't ask me how he got involved) in favor of the U.S., which then led to the islands' exploitation for minerals and timber.

Directions and distances to everywhere from San Juan Island!

Of course, native Salish tribes had been living on the islands for millennia before that. The climate is nice year-round and the sea provides an incredible variety of food. Fortunately, their descendants still live on the islands and have fishing and gathering rights.

The advent of ferries throughout the Salish Sea brought tourists to the islands, especially the largest, San Juan Island. Its main settlement is Friday Harbor, a really nice village with wonderful shops and some good restaurants.

Friday Harbor from the ferry.

We took two ferries to get there, the first from Port Townsend, WA to Whidbey Island and the second from Whidbey to Friday Harbor. The Washington State Ferries are very well maintained and professionally operated. They generally run pretty close to schedules and are efficient and pleasant ways to get around the Salish.

Interior of one of the ferries we took. This is a smaller one.

We stayed in what proved to be a really nice hotel, despite its somewhat dated look from the outside. The Discovery Inn isn't that close to the water, but nothing is really far from the water there. The rooms are very comfortable and well-appointed; we highly recommend it.

The Discovery Inn!

That afternoon we went to Lime Kiln Point State Park, named in reference to the island's past mineral exploitation. It has some beautiful and easy walks along the shoreline, where one can watch for seals, orcas and other sea creatures. We saw one seal but no orcas. There is also a really pretty lighthouse there, facing across the water toward Vancouver Island.

The lighthouse at Lime Kiln Point State Park.

We started the next day with a very good brunch at Friday Harbor House overlooking the harbor, then headed out to San Juan Islands National Historical Park, located on the southern tip of the island. We walked along the driftwood-strewn South Beach area and collected all sorts of sea-washed rocks, including a garnet and many different granites -- remnants of the entire area's volcanic beginnings that have been smoothed by waves and tides over hundreds of millions of years.

The Olympic Mountains across the water.

Years of driftwood have built up along the island's South Beach. People make shelters and structures out of it. It is a rocky beach with volcanic pebbles along the shore.

Drive above the South Beach of the island. Olympic Mountains to the left.

We had a really excellent late lunch at the Blue Water Bar and Grill downtown, followed by relaxing and visiting with Jeff and Sam back at the hotel. Van Go's pizza was the choice for a light dinner.

We had a relaxing time at Friday Harbor and would like to go back. Maybe next time we'll see some orcas!

The next morning we woke up early to get in line for the first ferry that would eventullay take us back to Poulsbo. Leaving the Jeep Road Warrior at their house, Jeff drove us to our hotel next to SeaTac airport, from which we flew home the next day. We had always planned to take a 6-week hiatus from the road trip, which proved to be a good thing on many levels.

Getting on the ferry from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend.

But we'll be back in the air to Seattle and back on the trip July 16, so there are more posts to come in Part 4!